BHIM update brings a number of new features

The BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) update on Android and iOS has been updated to version 1.3 bringing in a number of new features including support for new languages, money transfer to phone contacts, QR code scanning, one-time option to edit Virtual Payment Address (VPA), among other major improvements.

The new languages that are now supported include Marathi, Punjabi, and Assamese. Thanks to the update you can now send money to your contacts directly from the app; however it’s limited only to users of the BHIM app and *99# USSD users. Also, users will now be able to use the block/ unblock feature to protect themselves from random money-collect requests. Besides, there is now a download feature for the transaction history of the previous payments made, along with an easy access to the saved beneficiaries.

QR code scanning is also supported thereby making it tad easier to send money. With the update, the BHIM also supports SBI Maestro cards. For the UPI payments, users needs to have a Virtual Payment Address (VPA), which is used to transfer money in the BHIM app. You could not edit the non-mobile VPA after it was set for the first time earlier. With this update, users can make a one-time edit to their non-mobile VPA after it’s originally set.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi has launched the BHIM-Aadhaar digital payments platform to boost the digital payments revolution on the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, in Nagpur on Friday. More details are forthcoming.

Recently, the initiatives such as Aadhaar and BHIM provided by the government were being questioned for technical malfunctions according to some media reports. NPCI last month assured that there is “no vulnerability of loopholes” reported in Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) or the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications.